When You're Gone
by CUtopia
Summary: As Petunia Dursely finds a bundle on her doorstep, she bodes that something is wrong


Entry for "Care of Magical Creatures" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

Thestrals are magnificent winged horses. They are skeletal in body, a face with reptilian features and large bat-like wings. Thestrals are carnivorous and attracted to the smell of blood, much like a great white shark. These winged creatures can only be seen by those who have experience with death, for instance, seeing the death of a human being.

Write about a character who's lost a loved one (either a child or sibling).

Your word minimum is 550

Entry for the "Scavenger Hunt" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

4. Muggle

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><p>It had been a fairly normal morning for Petunia Dursley, everything was like it was every day, until she opened the door to fetch the newspaper, only wrapped into her morning gown, and found a bundle on her doorstep.<p>

At first she feared that somebody wanted to hoax them, but suddenly, the bundle started to move and a envelope fell to the ground just as a small hand appeared at the edge of the blanket. Upon realising that it was a real baby she hurried to pick the bundle up from the ground and walked inside, the letter in the pocket of her gown.

Vernon was still upstairs so Petunia was alone in the living room where she gently lay the baby on the couch and unwrapped it from the blanket. It had black hair and a oddly shaped cut on his forehead which still looked fresh, but what was more important to her were its eyes – they were green like the of her sister Lily, it was as if she was looking at Petunia with this curious glance.

Petunia gulped as a bad feeling spread in her stomach and she pulled the letter out, ripped the envelope open and pulled a parchment out.

_Dear Mrs Dursley,_

_it is my mournful duty to inform you that your sister and your brother-in-law, Lily and James Potter, were attacked last night in their house in Godric's Hollow. The two of them were killed in this event, but their son, Harry, has survived thanks to a powerful spell your sister put upon him._

_You, Mrs Dursley, are his last living relative, therefore you have become Harry's guardian, let him grow up in your house, as he will be save there as long as he calls it his home._

_With my deepest condolences_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Petunia felt as if somebody had slammed her head into a brick wall – dizzy, hurt, confused.

Her sister Lily, dead? From one day to the other?

She looked down at her nephew, Harry, and felt how her inside clenched by the thought that the small boy had witnessed the murder of his parents. A cold shudder rushed over her as she imagined Dudley in the same situation and instinctively, she took the boy onto her arms.

"Petunia, love, what is going on here?"

Petunia turned, holding Harry tight and looked at her husband Vernon who stood in the doorframe, looking puzzled.

"Lily. She is dead," Petunia answered and felt guilty about how uninvolved her voice sounded. "But Harry, he survived the attack and... and we were asked to take care of him as we are his only relatives."

"Doesn't this... this wizard have some odd clan that can take the boy?" Vernon asked, eyeing the small baby on his wife's arm with a dark expression. "I mean, how careless were the two of them, messing with some crazy people of their kind and not thinking about their brood, and now we are stuck with their kid..."

Vernon's voice faded into the background as Petunia looked into Harry's green eyes, and all she could see was Lily.

Suddenly she felt horribly guilty for all the things she had said, for all the insults she had thrown at her sister, for shoving her away because she was so jealous of how her sister was something extraordinary while she herself was simply a human – or a muggle, how magical people called it.

But after all, Lily was her sister – her beloved sister and she regretted that everything she had ever done was to push her away, even though she still loved her and the thought that Lily had died without ever getting the chance to hear this from Petunia was upsetting her greatly.

Harry gurgling and starting to play with her small finger brought her back to reality, just as Vernon said:"There is no way we are going to treat this... this baby like our own!"

She nodded, feeling a sudden emptiness rush over her and she was not able to contradict her husband – the loss was exhausting her, it was as if a part of her had been ripped out with Lily's death.


End file.
